It’s almost a year-and-a-half since Tottenham Hotspur launched a club-record £38 million offer to beat Liverpool to Schalke’s playmaking starlet Max Meyer in August 2016, as reported by Bild.

These days, Meyer would cost far less with just six months remaining on his contract and with no new deal seemingly in the pipeline. So if Spurs do want to finally bring their long-standing target to North London, next month would be the opportune time.

According to Football London, however, Tottenham made no effort to sign Meyer in the most recent transfer window and it is doubtful that they will renew their interest in January.

The report states that there is a feeling that the 22-year-old has stagnated and that might well be true. Since the beginning of 2016/17, Meyer has scored and assisted just two Bundesliga goals for Schalke and appears to be nowhere near booking a place on the plane in Germany’s World Cup squad.

This is in stark contrast to his Schalke team-mate Leon Goretzka – who has emerged as arguably the most exciting young talent for both club and country.

And it appears that, while Spurs have toned down their interest in Meyer, they are all too keen to bring ‘the new Ballack’ to North London. Like Meyer, Goretzka is out of contract in the summer but there’s a very real chance that Spurs could miss out altogether.

Bild claim that he is eyeing a move to Liverpool rather than Tottenham with the presence of compatriot Jurgen Klopp a major factor. The Reds would be getting one of Europe’s most promising goalscoring midfielders, a player who announced himself in style via Germany’s 2018 Confederations Cup campaign.

Danny Owen

Daniel is a Journalist graduate from Leeds Trinity University and is generally obsessed with everything football related. Daniel watches everything from Augsburg in the Bundesliga to Vitesse in the Eredivisie with as much La Liga as possible thrown in for good measure.